John 4:23

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. BUT THE HOUR COMETH (OR, 'BUT THERE COMETH AN HOUR,') AND NOW IS - evidently meaning her to understand that this new economy was in some sense in course of being set up while He was talking to her; a sense which would in a few minutes so far appear, when He told her plainly that He was the Christ. WHEN THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH - or 'in spirit and truth' [ en (G1722) pneumati (G4151) kai (G2532) aleetheia (G225)]; for the F...

23._But the hour cometh. _Now follows the latter clause, about repealing the worship, or ceremonies, (81) prescribed by the Law. When he says that _the hour cometh, _or _will come_, he shows that the order laid down by Moses will not be perpetual. When he says that _the hour is now come, _he puts an end to the ceremonies, and declares that _the time of reformation_, of which the Apostle speaks, (Hebrews 9:10,) has thus been fulfilled. Yet he approves of the Temple, the Priesthood, and all the ceremonies connected with them, so far as relates to the past time. Again, to show that God does not choose to be worshipped either in Jerusalem or in mount Gerizzim, he takes a higher principle, that the true worship of Him consists _in the spirit; _for hence it follows that in all places He may be properly worshipped. But the fi

4-26 There was great hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews. Christ's road from Judea to Galilee lay through Samaria. We should not go into places of temptation but when we needs must; and then must not dwell in them, but hasten through them. We have here our Lord Jesus under the common fatigue of travellers. Thus we see that he was truly a man. Toil came in with sin; therefore Christ, having made himself a curse for us, submitted to it. Also, he was a poor man, and went all his journeys on foot. Being wearied, he sat thus on the well; he had no couch to rest upon. He sat thus, as people wearied with travelling sit. Surely, we ought readily to submit to be like the Son of God in such things as these. Christ asked a woman for water. She was surprised because he did not show the anger of his own nation against the Samaritans. Moderate men of all sides are men wondered at. Christ took...

Verse 23. _THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS SHALL WORSHIP - IN SPIRIT_] The worship of the Samaritans was a _defective_ worship - they did not receive the prophetical writings: that of the Jews was a carnal worship, dealing only in the _letter_, and referring to the spirit and design, which were at a distance, by types and ceremonies. The Gospel of Christ showed the meaning of all these carnal ordinances, and the legal sacrifices, which had all their consummation in his offering of himself: thus a _spiritual_ dispensation took the place of the _carnal_ one which prefigured it. 2. The preaching of the Gospel discovered the true nature of God, of salvation, of the human soul, of earthly and of heavenly things; and, because of this, it is put in opposition to the _defective_ Samaritan worship....

BUT THE HOUR COMETH, AND NOW IS - The old dispensation is about to pass away, and the new one to commence. “Already” there is so much light that God may be worshipped acceptably in any place. THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS - All who truly and sincerely worship God. They who do it with the heart, and not merely in form. IN SPIRIT - The word “spirit,” here, stands opposed to rites and ceremonies, and to the pomp of external worship. It refers to the “mind,” the “soul,” the “heart.” They shall worship God with a sincere “mind;” with the simple offering of gratitude and prayer; with a desire to glorify him, and without external pomp and splendor. Spiritual worship is that where the heart is offered to God, and where we do not depend on external forms for acceptance. IN TRUTH - Not through the medium of shadows and types, not by me

EXPOSITION JOHN 4:1 7. _The ministry and revelation of the Lord to those beyond the strict compass of the theocracy. _This passage describes an incident of consummate interest, and records a specimen of our Lord's intercourse with individuals, and the reaction of that instruction upon the disciples. The event is a solitary chink through which the light of historical fact falls upon an otherwise darkened and unknown period of the Saviour's life. When we skirt a forest we see at intervals, where by some accident of growth the light falls upon a narrow space, a miniature world of life and loveliness of every kind, suggesting what might happen if every square yard of the forest could receive a similar illumination. Every day of that wondrous life of Christ may have been equally full of meaning to some souls. "These things are written, that

BUT THE HOUR COMETH, AND NOW IS, WHEN THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS,.... The worshippers of the true God, and who worship in a right manner, whether Jews or Samaritans, or of whatsoever nation: SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER; the one true God, the Father of spirits, and of all flesh living: IN SPIRIT; in opposition to all carnal conceptions of him, as if he was a corporeal being, or circumscribed in some certain place, dwelling in temples made with hands, or was to be worshipped with men's hands; and in distinction from the carnal worship of the Jews, which lay greatly in the observation of carnal ordinances: and this shows they should not worship with their bodies only, for bodily exercise profiteth little; but with their souls or spirits, with their whole hearts engaged therein; and by, and under the influence and assistance of the Spirit of God, without whom men cannot perform worship, neither pra...

I have often read this chapter in your hearing, and you have often read it yourselves; but the Word of God is not like the grapes of an earthly vine, which when once trodden are exhausted. You may come to Holy Scripture again and again; it is like an ever-flowing fountain, the more you draw from it, the more you may draw. John 4:1. _When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples), he left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee._ Observe here that our Lord at first shunned conflict with the Pharisees. When he knew that they were jealous of him, he went away from Judaea to a more remote district, «into Galilee.» May he help us always to take that which may be the wiser course in every emergency! He was not guilty of cowardice; that, he could not be, for he was

SPIRIT That the Holy Spirit is meant is clear for (John 4:24)....

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. He Must Needs Pass Through Samaria. (John 4:1 .)_ 2. At Sychar's Well; Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. (John 4:6 .) 3. The Woman's Witness and the Believing Samaritans. (John 4:27 .) 4. His Return to Galilee. (John 4:43 .) 5. The Second Miracle, the Healing of the Nobleman's Son. (John 4:46 .) In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord told His disciples not to go into the way of the Gentiles and not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. (Matthew 10:5